Decatur should begin construction on the long planned Commerce Drive Cycle Track around May 1 with the project’s completion taking about one year.
The work includes a cycle track, or protected bike lanes beginning at the North McDonough Street/ Trinity Place intersection, west for one block on East Trinity Place, then north (or right) on Commerce Drive to Clairemont Avenue. The cycle tracks will be one way on each side, with cyclists moving in the same direction as motorists. Automobile lanes will remain at two on Trinity, get reduced to three on Commerce from Trinity to Ponce de Leon Avenue and remain four on Commerce between Ponce and Clairemont
Total length is slightly more than a half-mile, with the cost at $2.1 million, $700,000 of that paid for by PATH Foundation.
This initiates the Decatur PATH Connectivity Plan, a series of separate bike paths and trails throughout the city that, according to initial projections, will total about nine miles. It’s anticipated the Plan will take roughly 10 years to complete.
The Plan’s next phase is building protected bikes from Commerce/Clairemont to Church then left on Church to the northern city limits. This includes taking out the rubber bollards that were erected on Church in 2012 around the Glenlake Park area. This project should start around the time the Commerce Cycle Track finishes.
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